Angel of Perdition
by Fluidfyre
Summary: Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness. Thrust into hell all evil spirits who prowl the world seeking the ruin of souls. / From Shepard's death to rebirth, the tale of Garrus Vakarian and who he becomes; Archangel.
1. Chapter 1 Cloud Nine

Inspired by Mass Effect 1 & 2, some characters belong to Bioware, as does the ME universe.

* * *

"Executor, we have evidence that Kell was not only with Miss Bright, but a witness able to place her at the scene. We can't just let her leave the station!"

Executor Pallin sat behind his desk, hands bridged and expression unfazed. He didn't even look up.

"Officer Vakarian. You know procedure with diplomats. The appropriate orders can be sent through the embassy, and if we're lucky, they will agree to our terms. Until then, she has the immunity to travel as she wishes. We don't need another incident."

"Do you know how hard it was to get Vela to agree to give a statement?"

"That may be, but it doesn't factor in, Garrus. You know that."

Garrus crossed his arms, mandibles flaring as he exhaled.

Ignoring the officer's annoyance, the turian executor leant forward and keyed a few commands into the terminal on his desk.

"Until we hear from the consular-agent, the case is suspended. I'm reassigning you to a report of fraud in Thelate Ward."

"Executor -"  
Pallin raised a hand.

"Vakarian. We've been here before. You were accepted back into C-sec on the understanding you would follow protocols and orders. Your record as an investigator sustained you - don't add to the suspicions that aiding Commander Shepard affected your work ethic."

Garrus recoiled, his arms unlinking. The executor continued to type a few things, before retrieving a data pad from a slot in a drawer.

"Stick to procedure."

Snatching the offered data pad, Garrus clipped, "Aye, sir."

* * *

Lights danced across the table and over Garrus' eyes, and he sat back in the booth, letting the nearby strut shadow his eyes. Barely a week since the human girl had been killed, and it was like nothing ever happened. The music filled the atmosphere of the club, and lithe asari bodies swayed and wove their movements in time with it.

The executor wouldn't be pleased to know he was there. The filler assignment he'd been given had taken Garrus barely two days to gather the needed information. It'd take twice that to finish the necessary paper work. And Pallin knew it.

Swiping his cup from the table before him, Garrus drained the blushed liquor away, feeling its pleasant sting warm its way into his gullet. Focused on some unseen point, he didn't notice the dancer beside him till she touched his knee.

"Always so distracted."

His predacious eyes swivelled back, depositing the glass on the table as the young asari offered him another. Tossing a chit onto her tray, he took the glass, and in a fluid motion it was emptied too. Garrus' mandibles flexed as he sat up.

"Hard not to be with the workout you ladies give."

The girl laughed, her head tilting and showing off the indigo freckles that smattered her cheeks and neck in the swirling light. The music flowed into a new set, the base renewing itself with a warm thud in the chest. Clearing the glasses, she slid a knee across the table, her garment scarce concealing the curve of her thighs and the press of her breasts into their tight constriction.

Garrus sat back again, crossing one leg with mild discomfort. Vela had been the only one at Cloud Nine willing to say a thing about the murder. Her roommate was the one that got killed. From what he'd found, Garrus knew it put her at considerable risk. Something he wasn't sure she realized. More then three times his age, and that much more naïve.

Drawing a deep breath, Garrus looked to Vela, her eyes upon him as she swayed and drew her hands over thighs and waist. Lissom and fluid, her legs spread apart on the table, tensed to support her body as she leant forward into him.

"Come to bring me good news?" The asari rested a hand beside his knee for support, dancing as though the gyrations of her body were as casual as the conversation.

Garrus looked down, and Vela's motions hitched briefly, before she caught herself and flexed back, arching to lie back on the table. Coiling up, her hands moved around her waist again, drawing his eyes back.

"I can't do anything, Vela."

The asari's head snapped around, watching his face.

"I saw that bitch kill, Liz. What, don't they believe me?"

Garrus rolled his neck, looking up through the lights before leaning onto his knees and letting his voice drop.

"She's a diplomat. C-sec can't touch her."

"She's Eclipse!"

The asari hissed as she danced closer, still knelt on the table as she ran a hand up over his plated armour, their faces close.

"We can't prove that. We have to go through the proper channels."

The beat of the music pulsed louder, and Vela turned her head aside, arms up to contribute to the sinuous motions of her body. Rolling her hips and breasts, she closed her eyes.

"Why are you here, officer?"

Garrus' hand dropped to the table between her legs, his eyes on his talons before watching her face. Did he think he'd see something else? That he'd glean anything that would help change the executor's mind? He knew better then that.

Heat flared in the tips of his fringe and he grunted, the sound lower then the music. Three drinks. Such a lightweight. Shepard would've kicked his ass. The thought twisted his insides. Blinking lengthily, he refocused on the asari dancer, the moving lights of the club creating a rainbow over her periwinkle skin. What _was_ he doing? Wasting his fucking time.

"I don't know. I'm sorry, Vela." His voice flanged, and he tossed another credit chit on the table. It tinked and hit her thigh as he stood up and strode to the door.

Walking through the back streets to the transport station, the destruction still visible in every corner of the Citadel reminded him of what had been lost. Keepers were out in force, their work difficult to follow, but slowly the galactic hub was piecing back together. His small apartment in the wards stood unscathed beside a massive section of Sovereign, heat-welded and embedded into the building it took out. Each day a little more of it was gone.

Inside his home, the small window in the den afforded a few through the neon-lit ward. His face and fringe were still flushed from the liquor, and the clock read 01:00. His shift was only a few hours away. Dragging himself to bed, the quiet of his insomnia was eventually broken by the urgent blip of his omni-tool.

It was a crime scene summons. There'd been another incident at Cloud Nine. There was a preliminary list of causalities, more then one asari dancer among them.

Vela.

* * *

Striding up the ramp, Garrus waved his omni-tool before the security drone, and the barrier flickered, letting him into the club. It worbed to life behind him, and the thick scent of blood filled his senses. It was a gruesome scene.

The main bar on the right was completely blown away, the blackened edges of metal curling over the catwalk that led from it. It was barely a quarter of an hour since he'd been called, and the pools of different-coloured blood here and there where bodies lay were still glistening wet, the forms motionless, with limbs missing or awkwardly askew. There were three other C-sec officers on the scene, each one from the district Garrus primarily worked in. He walked over to the young human he knew, Shala Patal.

"Patal, see you got pulled into this too?"

The woman stood, relaxing her arms as she redirected the drone aside her, a light fluttering on its front as it took vid and recorded holos of the scene.

"Didn't think we'd both be back here so soon - least, I hoped not." Shala sighed.

Garrus flicked through his omni-tool, the orange glow wavering as it acquired data from the other investigators present.

"They think one of the gas vents leaked an explosion. But we can't rule anything out."

Hand glowing with the drone controls, Patal redirected the hovering orb to the next body, nodding to Garrus. She motioned towards the bar with her free hand.

"There aren't any residues that would suggest tampering or explosives, though. Not so far."

Gathering readings, Garrus nodded, stepping with care amidst the carnage. His kinetic barrier flickered, standard protocol when dealing with a crime scene to help prevent contamination.

"What is the casualty report?"

"Seven fatalities, and more injured. Five employees, two patrons. They're luck it was so late, it could have been a lot worse."

Garrus grumbled a reply, looking about again. Waving a reply, he strode over to the crumpled asari that caught his eye, periwinkle skin darkened by the richer hue of blue blood. A knot tightened in his gut, and he clenched his jaw.

She'd followed him into the alley the night Liz Bright was killed, after he'd run up against a wall questioning everyone in the club. The dark-haired human was found dead in the doorway of one of the private rooms. Vela had been scared, but she'd eased in time as he spoke. And now she was dead.

The freckles on her cheeks and neck were faded, eyes darkly clouded, and the ridges on her head lay flaccid and greyed. Bits of data flicked over his visor, readings from his omni-tool, and Garrus stood up, looking away. Her breath had smelled sweetly, a deliberate enticement when she had danced.

A list of identified DNA scrolled over his vision, catalogued as the sensors completed their sweep. The smallest molecule could be picked up, the technology used cutting edge. Word was they were beginning to install the sweeps at the docking bays to screen visitors.

"Hey Vakarian."

Turning around, Garrus blinked out of his thoughts, Patal standing beside him again, keying information into her arm.

"Hmm?"

"Word came you're off the case. Figured I'd let you know before someone tried to escort you out."

Garrus' arms dropped, brow furrowing as he looked at her.

"Your DNA and phens are on the scene. On one of the dancers too."

Closing his eyes, a low rumble vibrated in Garrus' chest. Of course.

"Just what I need."

"Never figured you the type."

Shaking his head, Garrus copied the data collected, extending his wrist to Patal, and their omni-tools linked.

"The Executor's gonna love this."

Patal patted his arm, a light slap on the armour. Garrus shrugged her hand away, striding beside the fallen dancer.

"You better head down and give a statement."

Stopping by the barrier-sealed door, Garrus hesitated. His voluntary presence would look better. Still, Pallin would know he'd been here looking for more information. His acceptance back into C-sec had been conditional, and left him on probation.

"Yea.. yea. Thanks, Patel."

Striding out through the barrier-protected door, the security drone blipped, the confirmation flickering over Garrus' visor. Cool air hit him, the sealed air in the club stifled with burnt metal and the itchy-throat scents of varying blood species. The simulated breeze brought with it the smells of the ward, the few restaurants nearby and the sweat, fluids and industrial processes. Though the keepers cleaned, recovery from the attack on the Citadel was slow, their attentions focused on repairs and removal of debris - and of all the millions that found their home on the station, it was never any wonder what smells it brought with it.

In a jiff he was at the transport deck, whisked away into the sky by a proprietary C-sec cruiser. The simulated night left lights low through the towering, pressurized buildings, the glow of the nebula beyond bright behind the shadowy edifices. The arms of the ancient station never slept, reaching wide through the hazy cloud that enshrouded it. Traffic was light, and docked again, Garrus went to C-sec.

The hours of the early morning whiled away as he recounted his presence at Cloud Nine, thankful to be processed by one of the newer recruits; a human who knew enough to keep any snide remarks to himself. Fatigue was tugging at the periphery of his senses, and the morning shift rolled over to relieve the night.

Forced to wait for the Executor's summons, Garrus scanned through news reports and intel as he lingered in the academy's lounge. It was mid-morning by the time his omni-tool blipped, and the request flecked across his visor.

* * *

"The truth is Garrus, I'm tired of your disregard for protocols. Even if your heart is in the right place." Executor Pallin linked his talons together, posture rigid in his chair. Garrus stood with his arms linked together behind him, expression fatigued.

"There was an expectation that upon your return to C-sec, you would show marked improvement in your old position. The responsibilities afforded your office necessitate tact. It isn't enough to get the job done."

Garrus kept his eyes on the presidium gardens beyond the Executor's office. They had exchanged heated words for the past half hour, each unyielding to the other's ground.

"While you consider it red tape, we do things a certain way because it works, and offers all citizens and visitors to the Citadel the same degree of law and order."

"I guess justice is incidental, then?"

The Executor's mandibles flared wide, his eyes down, unfocused at the display on his desk.

"That is just it, Officer Vakarian - justice is determined by the guidelines C-sec has outlined and ratified over many centuries. It is called due process for a reason." "Our laws become nothing without the soul that guides them."

Talons still clasped, Pallin rested his hands down on the desk.

"I had hoped that your time away from C-sec would help you grow past clinging to your own ideals in your investigative actions." Keying in a few things on the suspended, orange-glowing keyboard before him, the Executor drew a quick breath. Garrus' omni-tool blipped.

"Be glad I'm only putting you on administrative leave." Pallin raised a hand as Garrus made to speak, "It's policy, Vakarian, you know that. A lesser investigator, I would have terminated, considering you've already been on probation. You're talented, thorough and intelligent. I've always strove to give you the possibilities I could. I'll inform you when the investigation is concluded. Until then, stay on the Citadel."

Garrus clenched his teeth, his blood running hot. "Yes, sir."

"And I suggest you drop this. I want have you back in full force and off probation. But just because you played hero with some Spectre doesn't mean I'm going to hand it to you."

Shifting his weight, Garrus' mandibles flexed indignantly, and it wasn't lost on the Executor.

"Maybe practise keeping your emotions out of your work. You'll do a better job."

"Is there anything else, sir?" Garrus crossed his arms low over his waist. This incident would cement the tentative silence his father had maintained since he'd left to work with Shepard. No one seemed to care about honouring the fact she was dead.

Executor Pallin's attention was already back to the information on his display.

"No. Dismissed."

Left to wander to the rapid transit hub, Garrus kept his head down, wondering what it left him able to do.

* * *

The insistent chime of the door finally cut through Garrus' hangover, and the turian sat up with careful ease. His blurry vision was slow to focus, and he reached for his visor to check the clock. He'd slept through the day, and 20:00 just about to turn over to the next. The door chimed again, the sound cutting in and closing his eyes.

Despite deliberately going to a different ward and a bar then he'd ever found himself at, Garrus'd managed to bump officers he knew from his military legion. On the heels of his suspension from C-sec, it'd been easy to fall into a long night of drinking with them.

His apartment door chimed again, followed by a loud rap on the locked door, the sounds of a muffled voice beyond. Rousing himself, Garrus grabbed his shirt and zipped his trousers as he plodded to the door. He touched the comm.

"What?"

"Garrus! Fuck sake's Garrus, I've been hitting for almost five minutes."

"Patal?"

"Yea – look, are you going to let me in?"

Garrus groaned, talons over his face. He hadn't drank like that since…

"It's kinda late, you know that, right?"

Patal's voice grew more intimate against the comm, the sound heated, "I'm risking my ass coming here, Vakarian. This isn't some social call."

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Garrus keyed open the door, and it slid aside. With scarce a hello, Shala Patal stepped in, looking over her shoulder as the door shut again.

"By all means, make yourself comfortable." Garrus waved a hand as she locked the door, his jaw set as she turned to him.

"Where have you been?" Shala took a step back, and she crossed her arms, shoulders cringed.

Coughing, Garrus turned, motioning her in as he turned on a light. "Well. I'm sure you heard - I got suspended. Seemed to me spending the night in a bar was the right thing to do."

Shala shook her head and followed, producing a data pad from her coat as she muttered, "Then you better sober up quick."

Garrus took the pad, hand on his hip as he read the information on it. In a moment, his dark eyes turned up to her. He had to clear his throat, suddenly parched.

"Is this a joke?"

"See me laughing?" Shala closed her eyes, tilting her head back before saying, "C-sec is planning the arrest for morning. I – I didn't believe what was there, I mean I –"

Garrus shook his head, "No, I appreciate it. You're... risking a lot coming here."

Shala's shoulders relaxed down, and Garrus looked at the data pad again.

"Vela – the dancer – she'd submitted a statement. She saw Kell and Miss Bright together. I just wanted to…"

Garrus turned and flung the data pad onto the small table by the kitchen. He touched his talons to his brow, turning back to Patal.

"What can they possibly even have on me? There's nothing wrong with going to see strippers. As if it wasn't bad enough that Pallin put me on leave."

"Something in the access tubes. You and I both know the keepers keep them spotless, they wouldn't just explode or break down. I know you wouldn't do something like that, either."

"Thanks, Shala." Garrus put his hands on his hips, suddenly sighing.

"I figured the least I could do is come find you before the rest of C-sec does. Told you to cooperate yesterday and look where it got ya."

"What?"

"Well it's obvious someone is trying to frame you. Are you still drunk, Vakarian? You're usually on the ball faster then I am." Shala tilted her head, her dark hair falling off her shoulder as she smirked.

Closing his eyes, Garrus tempered the flush of his ire. His mandibles twitched as he thought. They had genetic proof he was at the scene, that he'd been close to one of the dancers, and linked to the access tunnels where the explosion originated. Even if he was cleared, his career in C-sec was over, and his Spectre application out the door.

"We have about four hours?"

"Yeah."

He cursed under his breath.


	2. Chapter 2 Off the Grid

A/N: Sorry this took so long to update, had most of it written a while ago honestly. Finals were keeping me from finishing it, but I'm free now and hopefully can dig in more! I look forward to writing it.

* * *

Garrus pulled up the hood of the loose orange and green coat, shifting his weight as he took the data pad from Patal. He swallowed the indignation at the woman's offer, reminding himself of the help she'd been giving. That she had no idea how insulting her suggestion was.

"No, Patal. My markings will be fine."

They had split up for an hour and worked through the lower wards. Changed into plain clothes, Garrus felt exposed. He was being paranoid, even if his armour and most of his favoured weapons were nearby.

"Alright, alright."

Patel stuck the small jar in her pocket, looking up to Garrus.

They'd accomplished a great deal in the short time; trashed and shot up his apartment to seem like a break in, reprogrammed his omni-tool, and found him somewhere to stay far out of C-sec's way. It made him uncomfortable. A lot of it seemed ridiculous, but maybe it'd buy him time. If nothing else, it'd sure confuse people.

Standing in the alley outside the boarding house, the bare side of the tower shadowed their activities, the passages thick with people and activity. Day and night were the same in the wards, and the ebb of life never stopped.

"I have to be going soon. My shift starts in an hour." Rocking on her heels, Shala keyed something into her omni-tool, and shaking her head, transferred the information to him.

Garrus raised his brow. She sighed.

"They've already been to your apartment. So C-sec will be looking for you. Maybe it's better to stay in your room a few days."

"Locked up a different way, I guess."

"I'll send you anything I can. More will show up as we go through the readings from the scene. Always does."

Garrus crossed his arms across his waist, "It links back to Kell. I'm sure of it."

"Well, do what you do best. It might be a day or two before I can come see you again. You've got all the data from the scene."

"I'll look into others who were there - anyone who stands out, anyway."

Shala stood there a moment looking up at Garrus, until his head swung to meet her gaze. She looked tired.

"It's hard being a good guy."

"You're telling me." Garrus 's mandibles flexed, near to a smirk.

"I'll be in touch."

Hesitating a moment more, Shala turned and disappeared into the street. Standing in the shadow of his new home, Garrus sighed, looking up the side of the building.

The smell of burnt composites was rich in the air, and overhead the air buzzed with the constant whirr of passing transports. Garrus walked with a slow gait around front, turning through the other transients clustered outside. He waved through the smoke, the smell somehow more pleasant then the one that permeated this level of the ward.

Up the elevator and into the corner where his room was, Garrus passed his omni-tool in front of the door, and it slid to let him into the confined space. The lights from the club next door glowed in the slatted windows. The room was bare, but something beside the desk terminal caught his eye. He hadn't even thought of it when they'd hurriedly vacated his apartment. Patal must have left it. It was the Citadel Star he'd received for his part in stopping Saren.

Snatching it with a talon, Garrus tucked it into a waist pocket, and sunk into the chair. Leaning into his hand, he synched his omni-tool with the terminal and began going through everything Patal had given him.

* * *

Snug in light armour, Garrus traipsed up the steps of the club, and the door swished open to let the bass of the music thud through his chest. He'd been isolated in his room for a few days now, and the sudden crush of people in the confined space set his jaw to twitch. Snaking along the wall, he placed a chit on the bar, ordered an ale and let his eyes sweep through the crowd.

The beat-driven shifting lights made it difficult to focus on faces, but Garrus had been here before. He knew the hierarchy that the two levels of the club created, and what the divisions of the room dictated. One of his most useful informants frequented it, and had helped him track the salarian down.

C-sec kept out of the small-scale drug deals that went on in places like this. It wasn't worth their time. There were bigger fish to fry. So it was little surprise that Roa was able to latch on and ensure he was always able to get his fix here.

Garrus took a gulp of the ale as he pushed off the wall and strolled towards the back of the room. Silm Roa. He'd dealt with junkies before. There were more than anyone liked to admit down in the dredges of the wards.

Through the crowd he could see the salarian grinning, smudging a gel along his lower eyelid. Blinking rapidly, Roa tilted his head back, shaking his arms before laughing at the person beside him. The high pitched sound reached Garrus.

Roa's lips pressed in, blinking a few too many times as he looked at the human across the table from him. There was something in their glances, movement under the table. His three-fingered hand appeared and jittered on the table top, bouncing like his leg underneath.

Garrus drained the rest of the ale away, a flush through his fringe as he sidestepped an asari, casually strolling up in the place of the human that left Roa's table. He sunk into the seat, spinning the empty glass onto the table.

"Hey, hey, hey."

Roa grinned, closed lipped, his fingers still alight on the table. He stopped the glass, lifting it to stack in neat symmetry with the others to his left before wiping under his weepy eye.

"Don't get to see turians a lot, coming to find something?"

Garrus' mandible twitched, resting a taloned hand on the table. The other stayed down, by his hip.

"Yeah."

"Maybe I got that something, tonight's the night, you know, beating bass and moving, I saw that asari look at you."

Casting a cursory glance out at the dance floor, Garrus saw the asari grinning their way, and had to stop from rolling his eyes. His talons strummed over the butt of the pistol at his hip. Leaning an arm onto the back of the seat, he turned to Roa.

"You know I could swear I saw you at Cloud Nine recently."

Roa's wrinkled brow twitched as he blinked a number of times, and then the worry fled and he laughed again. Readings of his vitals scrolled over Garrus' visor, scans matching particles on his clothing with ones found on the remnants of the explosive.

"Asari for you maybe, not for me. Ya right."

"Ha-ha. I heard something went down there, lots of people died."

The salarian's fingers were strumming again in a regular trio of beats.

"But you wouldn't know anything about that."

"I dunno what you're talkin' about."

Garrus cocked his head aside, looking over the dance floor again as he spoke under his breath. He knew Roa did tech work.

"I bet C-sec would love to know what you've been up to."

"Hey, my stims are legit, it helps me with my work, keh, who are you anyway." Roa waved him off, moving in his seat as he sized up the turian.

"Your work, right. Good at piecing together explosives?" Garrus lifted his hand off the back of the booth, sliding his talons together. "Salarians are pretty soft from my experience."

Silm Roa squirmed in the corner, his head turning as his gaze flitted from here to there, but no one else in the club seemed to have noticed them. The base shifted, the refrain of a new song warping to life. The dance floor moved with it.

"Or would your employer want to know about the stims? There's a lot I can do to make things uncomfortable, Roa."

His fingers twitched, and the salarian avoided Garrus' unwavering gaze. Finally, the turian looked away, clacking his talons onto the table and crossing one leg over the other.

"I know you were there. And you really don't seem bright enough to have pulled this together on your own, so why don't you start talking." Garrus' voice rumbled beneath the music.

Roa perched his leg up on the seat between them, leaning back, "I just built the thing, I swear. I didn't ask questions, I don't know how they found me, and don't care. They paid me, it's more then I'll make in a few months!"

Silm Roa wiped under his weepy eye again, wide eyes twitching away to the dance floor again.

"Who did."

"Isn't that enough? Ya, yea, that has to be. I mean yea, I didn't put it anywhere, they picked it up and I got the creds."

The salarian was starting to get on his nerves. These people in the underbelly of society often did. Hedonists. They didn't care about anyone but themselves.

Garrus sighed, and he stretched his mandibles. Rolling his shoulders, he sat up straight and uncrossed his legs.

"You know it isn't enough. Why protect them? Just going to get yourself in trouble, they don't care about you."

"It uh, it was a drop point, I swear, I just was supposed to leave it there, they'd get it, just leave it for them."

"Then who paid you?"

The outer finger on Roa's right hand flexed and tensed repeatedly, his gaze dragging from it to Garrus more then once.

"Stop moving your damned fingers!"

Damned junkies. Garrus' mandibles pulled tight as he clenched his jaw.

Roa pulled his hands back like a child, concealing them under the table. The jiggle of his body betrayed the bouncing of one of his legs. He blinked his large, averted eyes again a few times.

"James Hanis. He's Eclipse."

"See? Was that so hard?"

Garrus almost snickered, smirking as he nudged the salarian. His visor betrayed the junkie's erratic pulse, and Roa scrambled into the corner of the booth to escape the turian.

"Better not be lying to me, Roa."

Clicking his tongue, Garrus kept his eyes on Roa as he stood up and wove into the throng of dancers.

* * *

"Omega, huh? So what'd you do?"

Garrus moved the strap on his shoulder, adjusting the crate it held at the same time.

"Pardon?"

The pilot snatched another piece of freight, hauling it into the gut of his ship.

"People don't go to Omega because they want to."

A sound clicked in Garrus' throat, amused, and he looked back through the docking bay.

"I'm looking for someone."

Stacking the crates along the hull, the turian turned to Garrus, before looking back to the job at hand. Drawing a strap down, he secured them with a ratcheted lever.

"Uh huh."

Garrus strolled up the gangway, swinging his shouldered crate back so he could pick up another one, following the turian into the hold.

"I'd gotten the name of your ship, but uh, yours wasn't on the manifest."

The turian cocked his head aside, dropping the crate and pushing it into place with his foot.

"Easier to just use the ship, I find. It's Sidonis. Lantar Sidonis."

Garrus inclined his head.

"Garrus Vakarian."

Sidonis' mandibles clacked as he nodded, striding past Garrus to get the last crate.

"I don't usually transport people."

"Glad for the exception then."

"Hey, you're paying. I can use the creds." Sidonis secured the last crate in, lashing it into place. "You got a few ticks if there's anything you want to do before leaving dock. Just don't go far?"

"Thanks. I'm just going to send a message off."

Sidonis nodded, turning away to traipse deeper into the shadows of the hold. Garrus finished keying the sequence in his omni-tool, and he walked back out into the bright Illium sunrise peeking over the edge of the open docking hangar. The air was clogged with the waking sounds of business and transport, stagnated with industry and without breeze.

James Hanis was a human merc, a lackey low in the ranks of Eclipse - albeit, from what Garrus had found, he'd be moving up with his skills. They had been expanding their ranks, and there was already a warrant out in Citadel space for a previous incident. Precise execution of pinpoint explosives was his MO.

Since leaving the Citadel, Patal had pieced together some vid references placing Hanis near Cloud Nine the night of the explosion, but nothing yet had placed him at the scene. There'd also found proof of Roa and Hanis meeting, which only encouraged the nagging in Garrus' gut that had pushed him to book transport to Omega.

The accusations against him had been kept hush-hush, much to Garrus' amusement. The evidence they had was inconclusive - for once he'd been glad Pallin was such a hard ass about it. It had enabled him to get off the station with relative ease, though, it hadn't been through the public transport. Patal had sent him a note hinting at the commotion his father raised, too. It touched something inside - that his father didn't believe the accusations.

_My son might indulge in the occasional asari stripper, but he would never blow them up._

It was impulsive, more than he usually was. Admittedly, Garrus had always been a little self-serving of his own ideals for a turian. Guided by a strict moral compass, that needle had only grown more cemented in place with all the fallout after Commander Shepard's death. He didn't know where this little adventure would lead him in the end, but he was certain he was following the scent of the murderer. It felt right to be out in space again, tracking down the 'bad guys'. At least someone was.

Standing by the communications terminal, Garrus coded in the sequence to send the information packet to Patal. Word enough to let her know he'd made it through to Illium and was onward to Omega. The asari gateway to the Terminus had proved useful; he'd acquired more information not only on Hanis, but Kell too. It was like a stiff drink warm in his gullet. Satisfying.

Back through the cargo bay of the Vocoto, Garrus bumped into an asari in the dim light, and she snorted.

"Watch out, buddy."

"Oh - ah, sorry. Didn't see you."

"I noticed."

Turning sideways into the passage, the asari reached past him to tweak a console in preparation for flight.

"Anything I can do to help."

Stopping she put her hands on her hips, and in the dim light, Garrus could see her teal colouring more clearly. Snug coveralls and a loose, long-sleeved ash shirt underneath it accentuated her curves. She pursed thin lips, rich amber eyes looking aside in thought.

"Well, considering I have no idea what you can do, can't really answer that." She shuffled further into the passage past him, her omni-tool flaring aglow as she worked.

"Right...battlements? Or huh... calibrating just about anything."

The asari snorted again, eyes on her work. She spoke and pointed down into the ship.

"This isn't a frigate. Find Sidonis, ya eager beaver."

Eager wha-? Garrus nodded either way and strode deeper into the ship. The passageway barely fit him, being as small as possible to conserve precious space. He could see hack jobs where spare parts had been worked into the matrices - the few private shuttles he'd been on were always like that.

For a second, he questioned his own actions - again. No, he was doing the right thing. Here's hoping he survived long enough to do it.

The short passage led to a vertical ladder in the wall that brought him up to the main deck. The chamber was the width of the ship, and was partitioned by half-walls into a navigation chat, mess nook and others. The head of the ship bubbled out into the bridge, where Garrus could see Sidonis backlit by the holographic control console. The turian looked back at him.

"All good to go?"

"Yea. Met the, ah, asari, down below."

"That's Raimy. And you made it out without any blood drawn, that's good. You can't be half bad then."

Sidonis ambled back towards Garrus, swinging his arms to clap his hands together.

"We're just getting the clearance. But once we're off planet and the course is charted, wanna join me for some daeka?"

"Might be nice."

Turning, Sidonis motioned around. "Mess, our lounge, I know, nothing impressive but," The turian shrugged, before waving a hand Garrus' direction. "There's a sleeper pod in the cargo bay if you want to rest. Otherwise uhhhh make yourself comfortable?"

* * *

The daeka brew pleasantly surprised Garrus, it had a subtle boldness on his tongue. The few hours they'd had together through the relay and on course to Omega had been pleasant. Raimy had proven particularly adept at jibbing Garrus. Though, maybe he was just an easy target.

"I can't imagine ever working for C-sec. But then, I'm no turian. But, I knew I recognized you!"

Raimy settled back into her drink, a pink haze that had progressively dilated her amber eyes and relaxed her spine.

A rumble of sound vibrated in Garrus' throat, and he reached back over his seat. Few people recognized him from his work with Shepard, but even one was more than enough for him. The matron asari wasn't as glib as the Commander had been, but her sense of humour - it left a twist in his chest.

"You're so out of the loop, Lantar."

Sidonis waved a hand uncaringly, gulping some more daeka.

"You just like making turian men uncomfortable."

Raimy sniggered and raised her glass as she purred, "That I do."

A clarion alarm and light went off on the bridge, prompting Sidonis to his feet. Draining the last of his daeka away, he was there in a moment. Coughing out as the drink sliked down his throat, he sank into the pilot's chair.

"Lucky fucking us. Raimy get your green ass up here."

"Teal!"

The asari widened her eyes at Garrus as she got up and made it to the bridge without finesse.

The Vocoto shuddered as she was hit, the kinetic barriers holding, but unable to keep the force of the shot from rocking the ship. The daeka and all else slid off the table as Garrus found himself on the floor. He could hear Raimy's startled cry from the bridge, and he was still scrambling up as she wavered back to the navigation bubble.

The ground veered again as the ship banked, and Garrus steadied a taloned hand against one of the support struts overhead as he made it to the bridge.

"Sorry, Vakarian. I guess there's some people looking for me."

Mandible twitching, Garrus looked over the controls and ladar. There were two ships tracking them. He grunted as they turned sharply. The FTL drive had disengaged only minutes ago. That meant whoever was on those ships had enough sense to track and predict their trajectory mid-stream. Not two-bit thugs.

Through the forward windows he could see debris all around them. Garrus had never been to Omega before; he'd never had any cause to go. It was the world without law. Maybe he should have found his way there long ago. The red light of the station and hazy glow it bled into space swung into view.

Could be me they're after. No - he wasn't that important. Was he?

"Strap in, this might get a little queasy."

Looking around, Garrus flipped down a seat panel in the wall flanking the pilot's chair. Sitting down he clicked the X-strapped belts closed, his eyes still flitting over the controls, gauging the situation.

"You don't have any guns?"

Sidonis was on the edge of his seat, shaking his head at the situation or at Garrus, who knows. The ship jumped faster, the ominous, mish-mash of Omega station looming larger in the windows. Some of the asteroid debris fractured under a blue hit, and the Vocoto banked again.

"It's on my list."

Garrus' fringe brushed against the back wall as he sighed, looking up. He really knew how to pick them.

Raimy's voice bleat over the sound of system blips and alarms.

"Fuck Sidonis, what did you do this time!"

This time? The ship shuddered again as it was hit, and the trajectory wavered. Sidonis shook his head, doing his best to keep up.

"I haven't the faintest, my delicate flower, I swear."

Another series of choice words muffled in the back. Sidonis' eyes flickered with amusement, talons spinning through the holographic console. Her mutterings continued.

"She hates that."  
Garrus clenched his teeth, the ship jolting almost continuously now. The stars cut away as the Vocoto dipped into the precipice, piecemeal edges of Omega's outer shell. Lights flickered by, and Garrus pressed into his seat as the ship veered hard, the surroundings blurred with their speed.

"Luckily, we're smaller then they are."

Another cannon blast hit their shields, sending off a host of alarms and Sidonis sighed. Sighed like he'd spilt his daeka. Not like their kinetic barriers had completely fallen. Garrus watched Sidonis, his movements jittery and frayed.

The ship twirled again, the windows darkening as they slowed to weave deeper into the station. Far down the arm, the ship burrowed into Omega. Sidonis went on the comm.

"Jaffer, hey it's your favourite customer. Tell me you have a dock for me?"

Garrus couldn't make out the reply, but Sidonis gave a snarky laugh, pitching the Vocoto again to press into the maze. They had slowed enough that Garrus could see windows, docking arms and signage wiz by. It was all cast in a hazy, rusty red. He unclipped the harness over his chest and stood up without fanfare.

"Agh, what about something deeper?" Sidonis clacked his mandibles, "Come on, you know I'm good for it. Don't gouge me like that." There was more banter until the turian finally said, "That's more like it, perfect."

Raimy ran a hand back over her ridges as Garrus poked back.

"You okay?"

She turned, smirking as she did.

"Yea. That dick's gonna get me killed though."


	3. Chapter 3 Getting Gritty

Garrus kicked over the crate of red sand, spilling the grainy narcotic over a grate and eliciting a choked cry of protest from the volus nearby. He cocked the rifle and butted it into his hip and pointed it at the short man. Another dead end. But he was getting closer. He could taste it in the air.

That and asari blood. It always had a distinct smell that tensed the upper muscles of his mandible. Not pleasant.

What was he doing with his life. He'd been on Omega a month, and it had only contributed to the ire and thirst for justice. Living off the grid in the underbelly of the station had opened his eyes to just how terrible people could really be. Even though he'd received word of the charges against him being cleared back on the Citadel, there was no way he could go back now.

It wasn't just about him anymore.

The ochre-skinned human behind him let off a round that skinned by the head of the kneeling asari on the ground. The shot punched a hole in the shipping container behind her and created a small fount of red grains. She cowered closer to the ground, her eyes wide as she looked up defiantly at the man.

"Do you know how badly Eclipse is going to fuck you over when they learn about this?"

Butler cocked his head to the side, a smile on his grizzled, stubbly features. He dropped the heavy pistol down and shot again, this time letting the bullet whiz in the small space between the bend of her arm. The merc cringed again.

"This'd be a lot easier if you just tell us what we want to know."

"Fuck you!"

Shaking his head, Butler drew a breath and kicked the asari upside the head, knocking her down. The merc clamoured on the ground before the man's boot came down on her shoulder, pinning her to the ground.

The human's tactics were more brutal then his own. Garrus twitched slightly, his mandibles tightening as he kept an eye on the volus. Since he'd intervened and saved Butler and his wife from a group of batarians, the man had been more than insistent on helping Garrus with his cause.

"Listen, they won't care when your blue blood is spattered all over this alley. No one will ever find your body. Your volus friend sure won't be out to share news on this."

Garrus looked to the volus, face concealed by his helmet. The sink on Garrus' rifle charged and the stout man found his voice. He knelt down and took the data pads from the volus' belt.

"Does me no good to cause trouble!"

The asari on the ground tried her luck again, but Butler pressed his boot more firmly, and her armour grated on the ground. She rolled as the grip slipped, and grabbing her pistol, came round to shoot him. Before her finger could find the trigger, two bullets snapped her head back to the ground; one from Garrus and Butler in kind.

Garrus sighed, rolling his neck back before looking down at the volus.

"Veotal, if I hear you're helping Eclipse trade red sand on the station, a lost shipment will be the least of your worries. And I check up."

The volus teetered back, head turning to the data pads in Garrus' hands before muttering something and hurrying off out of the warehouse. Stepping over a nearby merc corpse, he handed the data pads to Butler, before stooping and searching through the bodies.

"I don't know how you do that."

Drawing breath, Garrus stood up and cracked his shoulders back, pocketing a few chits and swaying a data pad. Someone had shown him the value of the things the dishonourable dead leave behind. But he didn't speak of it now.

"What can I say, I like to eat. And I need all the information I can get. Hanis is still on the station. I don't want him to have the chance to get away."

Butler looked down at the asari underfoot, rolling her dead weight before meandering into the crates behind her. His nose wrinkled and he holstered his pistol, snapping it to his armour.

"So this was good?"

Hesitating, Garrus looked to the human as he manipulated the lock on the crate before him. The mechanism clicked as his omni-tool synced the circuits, and he slid the lid open.

"We'll see. I don't know what's on those data pads."

Garrus made a soft sound of approval, a biotic amp in the locked container.

"This will be missed. Here. Give me those."

Butler handed over the data pads and Garrus slipped them into the container, before turning to search through the rest of the quiet warehouse. In a few minutes the turian reappeared, looking at the human as he stood by the drug-filled crates around them.

"What are you waiting for, Butler? I said dispose of the sand."

Shifting his weight, Butler's eyes narrowed, before he looked at Garrus with a clear expression.

"Why are you searching dead bodies when you could just make a mint on this?"

Without hesitation, Garrus strode the few feet to Butler and grabbed him by the cuff of his armour.

"What did I tell you when you asked to work with me on this?"

"We do things your way."

Garrus nodded, his helmet moving, eyes unseen behind the visor.

"What did you tell me when I found out you'd been an addict?"

Butler tried to shrug in the taller man's grasp.

"That it was in the past. That I was done. It isn't -"

"And what did you tell your wife that day I stopped those batarians?"

The lines of age crept into the human's expression as he pulled back, but Garrus held firm.

"That I was done with it."

"Yea. So burn it and be glad I don't say a word to her about it."

Butler found his footing as Garrus released him and turned to search through the remaining crates, watching him in the periphery.

"You're combing dead mercs, Vakarian. I just thought -"

"You thought wrong."

Spilling the canisters of red sand together, Butler lit them and stepped back as they easily caught. A black smoke rose from the blue flame they produced, and his cheek twitched as he watched it burn.

"These mercs deserved what they got. You of all people should know what sand does to people, Butler."

Garrus set the case down beside him and crossed his arms, watching the narcotics burn into a puddle and leave a fine ash behind. The flames danced off the visor of his helmet.

"Yeah."

Swallowing the thickness of desire in his mouth, Butler turned away from the temptation.

"Nalah asked if you'd join us for dinner tonight. Came into some dextro rations. Nothing fancy, but."

Lifting a shotgun from a fallen human mercenary, Garrus inspected the firing mechanisms, cocking it before it collapsed down with a flick of the wrist. He looked to Butler, weighing his words.

"I - alright."

Butler sniffed in, shuffling a bit awkwardly as he stood there.

"You gonna burn the whole place?"

Garrus moved between the fallen mercs, gathering up their guns and ammunitions without flair.

"Mhm."

"That sure as hell will catch Eclipse' attention."

The turian replenished the clip of heat sinks in the thigh of his armour, and his mandibles twitched into a smirk as he looked to Butler.  
"That's the plan."

* * *

"I'm glad you came, I wasn't sure you would."

"Ah, I know you missed me, right?"

The woman laughed lightly, her head canting to look at Garrus as she leant her hip against the counter.

"Yes, poor me, stuck at home with Saoul all night."

A grunt of sound came from the next room and Nalah rolled her eyes. She broke apart the rations in her hands before dropping the pouch that contained them into a pot of water on the stove.

"I know it's not much."

Garrus raised a hand, shaking his head. "It's something, that makes it more than worthwhile. I appreciate it, really."

A dimple showed on Nalah's cheek as she smiled and shook her hair back over her shoulder, "Not like we can eat it. I have extra if you want to take them."

"Oh I couldn't -"

"It's just going to go to waste."

Mandibles pulling tight, Garrus bowed his head forward, chuckling a moment, "Twist my arm - er, is that right?"

Nalah laughed and nodded, patting Garrus on the arm to direct him to their modest living room. Saoul Butler was sitting before a set of dismantled weaponry, gingerly going through piece by piece and cleaning them with casual ease.

The murmur of quiet music rose from the stereo behind him, the chorus of its notes distinctly human. It reminded Garrus of something Commander Shepard had drunkenly demanded be played when she'd dragged the crew of the Normandy into a bar in the days following Saren's defeat. Sitting to rest his ankle on his knee, Garrus looked down, remembering just how badly she'd danced and how out of tune she'd been trying to sing along. Even he could tell, and that said something. He missed what Butler said.

Nalah raised her brow, still smiling as she leant forward and said, "Garrus?"

His mandibles fluttering, the turian looked up to the woman, his expression becoming unreadable. "Sorry?"

Butler snorted and squeezed Nalah's thigh, shaking his head and speaking again. Garrus kept his eyes up as the man continued, his thoughts caught in the tight space in his chest.

He liked to think the Commander would be happy with the work he was trying to do. A good number of bad guys had looked down his scope since coming to Omega, and Garrus prided himself on restricting the civilian causalities There hadn't been one. It'd had been more difficult the last time with Butler, but the man fell under his command easily enough.

_Command. What are you doing, Garrus? _

It was just the two of them, that was no sort of command structure. He didn't know why he'd so easily agreed to let Butler come with him to the Eclipse warehouse. He barely knew the man.

Garrus chuckled at the final anecdote, looking to Nalah as she rolled her eyes and laughed at her mate's joke. She was the real reason he'd come to dinner. Not that there was any sort of attraction, but the human woman was brighter than Saoul. He hadn't even been on Omega a week. She'd not refrained from conversation once in the few times they had gotten together since the day Garrus had saved her.

That's how she said it. She never stopped thanking him.

Rolling his shoulder back, Garrus' mandible twitched with mild disgust at the memory. The batarian had her half-disrobed, ignoring the gurgled screams of protest. The bastard had almost broken her jaw. Even in the low light there was still the depression of reddened scarring where the skin had broke. It would have been worse if he'd not had any medi-gel on him.

Nalah disappeared and came back with dinner, and they ate amidst idle chatter, Garrus prompting them to speak. He'd told very little about himself. It would come out sooner or later he used to work with C-sec, let alone the Saviour of the Citadel, Commander Shepard. Though sometimes, he suspected Nalah knew.

In a moment of rarity, Saoul stood before his wife and gathered up the plates from each of them. Nalah peered at him with a grin, when the door to their apartment blipped. It was followed by a dull, insistent thud from outside.

Looking at the time, a furrow stitched Nalah's brow as she rose and went to the intercom.

"Yes? Who is it."

"Nalah! Please, it's me. By the Goddess, please open the door!"

"Bels?"

There was more rapping on the door, muted by the thick metal. Keying in the locking code, Nalah opened the door and a powder blue asari tumbled in, looking behind her with wide eyes. Garrus rose to his feet. The doors shut quickly in her wake, and the woman clutched onto Nalah.

"They came for us. They killed Myli and took Jason and Ovara." The woman shuddered heavily, her skin drawn and her eyes glistening as she clamoured and Nalah. "I wasn't enough and they killed Myli."

"What? Who, Bels?"

Garrus kept his distance, an itch up his spine as the asari croaked with a heavy sob, shaking her head.

"I always knew it would come back to haunt me."

Nalah's brow furrowed, and Saoul stepped in from the kitchen.

"Bels, what happened?"

Reaching for the man, Bels sucked up her emotions, her voice a bare whisper as a wound under her eye seeped with blue blood. There was blood on her jumpsuit too.

"I'm positive it was the Blood Pack. They... they must have found out... but I'm not with them anymore."

Bracing the asari's arm, Nalah guided her into the living room. The woman was oblivious of Garrus as he sat back down, and Butler spoke to him under his breath.

"Bels' a good friend of Nalah's. She lives a few houses over. "

"I - I never told you Nalah. I used to be a merc in my maiden days. We were just a small band." The asari put a hand over a broken lip, closing her eyes and shaking her head again. "One of our last jobs ended up being against a Blood Pack krogan... We were sure he was dead, but no...no he came after me. He remembered."

Nalah motioned to Saoul, "Can you get her some tea?"

"Screw tea, give me something hard to drink." Bels hands ran back over her ridges, trembling.

Nalah nipped at her bottom lip, looking at the asari.

"I gave it all up when I met Myli, Nalah. She's human, I - oh Nalah, I'm sorry I don't -"

"Don't think anything of it. What about her?"

Bels looked up to Saoul as he handed her a tumbler with a soft pink liquid in it, and the asari looked to the other woman, "You don't live long... her life was too short to get caught up in what I'd been doing for more than a century already."

The drink disappeared in one swift flick of her wrist, and the glass clinked down onto the metal table. Bels closed her eyes, lips pressed in a line as the liquor chilled down her throat. It tightened her voice, thinning it out.

"She loved that I was a doctor. Like it made me something more. I never told her."

Nalah looked down into her lap, black hair falling over her ears.

"It wouldn't have mattered. You changed, it sounds like you wanted a better life." Garrus sat up, looking to the asari, his voice quieter. "Who were Jason and Ovara?"

"Our children."

"Ah..."

"Did they say where they were taking them?"

Bels accepted a medi-gel pack from Nalah with a thankful glance, before shaking her head at Saoul.

"Well. I mean I guess they're with the Blood Pack. But who knows what they're going to do with them. Oh Goddess..."

A shudder tightened Garrus' mandibles, and he was about to speak when Butler interjected.

"I know someone we can ask. I'll get a hold of him."

Garrus' brow lifted in mild surprise. Maybe the man would have his uses afterall. He looked to Bels.

"We'll get your children back. I promise."

* * *

A lanky character stepped out of the shadows and clapped arms with Butler. Drawing his hood back, the turian leant forward.

"You again? How'd you fall in with this waste of skin?"

Butler snarfed and put his hands on his hips.

"You can't be serious."

Garrus cocked his head aside, pleading with his memory to cooperate. A swarthy asari came to mind and so did the man's name.

"Sidonis?"

"Yeah, you remembered."

"You almost got me killed."

"But I didn't - that's the important part."

Sidonis barked a dry laugh, but the expression didn't reach his eyes.

"All of Omega, and you end up here with Butler."

Garrus crossed his arms, and his mandibles flexed before he said to Butler, "This is your contact?"

"I was hoping you'd have some info on a recent kidnapping by a Blood Pack group."

Producing a datapad from under his arm, Sidonis keyed over its surface, the orange light from it flickering over his fatigued features.

"I'd heard something, I'm sure I can find more - but it's dangerous going after mercs." The turian clacked his jaw, the light-hearted edge seeping out of his voice, "But then, what have I got to lose."

"Whaddya mean?" Butler raised a brow grinning," That asari of yours is always spicy. And a ship - gets you outta this hellhole. Unlike the rest of us."

Garrus almost cringed at the human's indelicate tone. But then, he wasn't a turian. Sidonis' body language and mannerisms spoke enough. They exchanged glances before Garrus spoke.

"I'm guessing something happened to, eh..."

"Raimy."

"I'm sorry."

Sidnois drew a breath, "Not like you're to fault. But yes, Butler, I still have my ship, sweetness that it is."

The brief moment of distaste faded from the turian's features as Butler was left without a word.

"There's been a Blood Pack faction causing a lot of trouble." Sidonis raised a hand, "Never mind how I dug under their plates. They've been killing a lot of people. Only seems a matter of time before the leaders crunch down. It's been getting bad for business." He keyed a few more things into his datapad.

They turned through the alley, the sounds and scents of industry and a tightly confined population in the air. It never smelled good on Omega - it more became a matter of hoping it only smelt bad enough to be a minor annoyance. The smelters kept the cycled air breathable, but just barely.

"So who did they take?"

"Two kids, Lantar, friends of Nalah's. Just kids."

Butler sighed and shook his head as Garrus kept a watchful eye. The streets were rarely safe.

"Ah shit, that's not right."

Sinking into a corner to cover their backs, Garrus slipped the assault rifle from his back, and it unfolded with a subtle click. In the low light, the glow of the data pad made his markings darker and gave a glint to his eye.

"We'll need to move quickly no matter. I doubt mercs hold onto children very long. If..if they hold on at all.."

Garrus sighed, crossing his arms and resting the rifle in the crook as he looked back through the alley.

"Is that all you've got on them, Butler?"

The human shifted, adjusting his ill-fitted armour before saying, "Well. Apparently Bels, the kids' mother, was involved in some merc activity years ago - before they were born. She wouldn't go into much detail, but it sounded like this was some sort of revenge. Before we'd left she'd gotten an encrypted message from an ex-comrade from the group. Like the Blood Pack has been tracking people down." Butler sighed.

"Sounds personal."

"And it sounds like Ms. Ser-eng worked hard to hide. That they'd be looking for her all this time?"

Sidonis swirled a talon over the datapad to lock it, turning his eyes up to Garrus in response.

"It's usually a krogan that heads up the factions. That's true of this one too." Sidonis sighed, "I guess I'll be coming with you."

"What are you getting at, Lantar?"

The turian almost rolled his eyes at Butler, but Garrus turned from his watch.

"I take it they're the same people who shot us up that day?"  
"Yeah. And worse."

Garrus motioned back from where they came, "We've lingered too long. Let's take a transport and figure out our next move."


	4. Chapter 4 Infiltration

Crouched in the darkness outside the small Blood Pack complex, Garrus wondered how Commander Shepard ever pulled this sort of thing off with only three people. They were heading into unknown territory with hostages and a vague number of mercenaries. The red sand warehouse had been different. Hell, hadn't everything? He hoped he had enough tact not to get the children killed.

At least they were low down grubbers. There might be one or two competent fighters, of which included the krogan lieutenant, Raef. The information Sidonis had provided indicated there were no biotics, so that helped level the playing field too. It sure would have made things easier if they had one with them.

Butler covertly sat against the half-wall beside them, tracing the façade of the building down a scope. He handed the sniper rifle back to Garrus.

His talons tightened round it. He still carried the one Shepard had given him before their mission on Ilos. Albeit, he'd picked up a mod or two since coming to Omega.

"Comm 24a. Be as quiet as possible. We don't know if they'll harm Jason and Ovara if they see or hear us."

Covert operations weren't his forte. He liked to see the field from a distant vantage. It wasn't often he switched to a heavy pistol, but Garrus imagined they'd be in close range, and he needed to fire quick and silent. Quicker than his favoured gun would allow.

Looking between his companions, Garrus nodded, and they sprinted the short distance to a side entryway. The alley was tight; space was at a premium on the station.

Butler shot a warning down the confined space, and a varren looked up from the indecipherable pile it scavenged and scampered off. Without law enforcement, gunfire invited a turned cheek and privacy more often than curiosity.

Sidling up to Garrus, Sidonis lifted his omni-tool and forced the lock with relative ease. The fact that exterior security was sloppy boded well. Kneeling down, Garrus nodded, and the other turian slipped a small device from his armour. Pressing it against the door, Sidonis modulate the frequency, and through it a resonance image appeared on his omni-tool. Watching the signal, he gave a simple hand single to indicate the way was clear.

Garrus opened the door, and the three crept in, hunched down. The short hallway was dimply lit, and the sound of alien tongues reached their ears. Crouched by the only door, Sidonis detected two people within, a room that led elsewhere into the stout building. The door was unlocked.

Standing up, Garrus passed his omni-tool over the door. As it opened, he strode in, pistol raised, the silenced barrel swivelling between the two vorcha he saw.

"Drop your weapons."

Snarling in a feral dialect, his translator offered no clue, but their actions spoke enough. Moving for their guns, the quiet 'thuck' of rent flesh was all that replied, and their garish faces disfigured further, erupting with blood. Their bodies slumped to the floor, and though Butler and Sidonis relaxed, Garrus inspected the room, pistol still at the ready. His visor flared with the brief confirmation that both targets were dead.

"And that is why you always keep your shields active on Omega."

Garrus turned to Sidonis' voice, motioning to silence him. Then, he turned and searched through the small room, before seeming satisfied.

"Check the doors. There's only so many places they can be."

Butler stood watch as Sidonis moved between the doors, testing the sensor at each. Garrus pulled the guns off the vorcha, and turned one of them over with his foot. He'd only seen them since he arrived on Omega, and they'd were everywhere. Any encounter had left him with the sense that they weren't much more than animals. But if they were in the Blood Pack...

Sidonis strode back to Garrus, his omni-tool turning, manipulated in a nervous way by his moving talons. He spoke quietly over the encrypted comm-channel, motioning to identify the rooms as he spoke.

"Storage, armory, and seems a main room with a partially blocked view. I could see Raef though."

Garrus' sigh hissed through his helmet.  
"Numbers?"

"One in the armory, and I could see five in the main room. There's probably more."

Standing over the vorcha, Garrus nodded to the reinforced door.

"The armory, of course. Might as well make this worth our while?"

Butler looked to Garrus, his grim expression hid by his helmet, "How can you joke at a time like this?"

Garrus raised a hand, moving towards the armoury door. There was a lock but it was disengaged. Shoddy. Gun in hand, he signalled to flank him, and with a simple flick, the door slid open to reveal a human knelt over a crate in the tight space.

Precise targeting overloaded the merc's shields, and Garrus targeted his pistol over his omni-tool to execute the man with a rapid succession of bullets. Crimson blood spattered the ground, and the human crumpled forward.

"Look through the crates. Take what we can use now. And if things go well, we'll come back and carry out what we can." Garrus relaxed from his ready stance, heavy pistol in hand as he looked back out the door.

Flipping through a number of empty crates, Sidonis cracked the locks as he moved, and Butler rifled through, slipping out sinks. The human spoke in a hush.

"There's some good rifles here."

"Better than yours?" Garrus glanced back.

"About equal."

"Then we'll come back for them."

A triumphant huff in his throat, Sidonis slipped a few grenades into his armour, mischief in his voice.

"I'd say I'm ready."

"Then we move. Keep an eye out for the children, concentrate on disabling before killing."

Striding out past Garrus, Sidonis hissed, "I can't wait to get Raef under my boot."

"Keep your eyes open, we don't know who else they might have trapped." Garrus pulse ran faster, hot under his plates. Even though he pushed himself into them for the better of others, the fire fights he'd gotten in on Omega hadn't hyped him in the way those with the Commander once had. It felt like a burning anger that steeled him hard. "Follow my lead."

Striding into the ancillary room, Garrus clipped the silenced pistol onto his armour and slipped the assault rifle off his back. Looking between Butler and Sidonis, he nodded, the other turian with a heavy pistol and Butler with an assault rifle. With a blip, the door slid and they opened fire.

The sudden flush of bullets caught the mercenaries off guard, and Raef turned as his shield absorbed their impact. The human and vorcha by his side weren't so lucky. Moving on instinct, the krogan was soon behind cover, the shotgun flipped off his back into ready, worn hands.

Flickers of blue drew Garrus' attention as the mercs kinetic barriers kicked to life, and he ducked behind cover.

"I don't see the kids. Varren, vorcha and Raef are left. Saw at least four."

Return fire pelted the crate that Garrus was against, and the metal shuddered. He chanced a look to see where the others were. Butler was in the frame of the door, using it as cover. There was no sign of Sidonis.

"Sidonis?"

"I'm getting a better angle."

Garrus shook his head, and clanked his helmet back against the crate before sucking a breath and rising up. A varren barrelled around the crate and leapt at his left arm, and the turian stumbled back, his rifle butting into the four-legged creature's face. Drool and blood spattered onto the ground, and the varren snarled. Gaining his footing, Garrus caught the muzzle of his gun against the animal's cheek and squeezed. Point-blank, the rounds shredded through muscle and sinew, and the yelp died away as the muscular beast slumped to the ground. Breathing hard, Garrus dropped back into cover, his shields bleating at their low level. Gunfire peppered overhead, and he peaked around the edge of the crate just in time to have his vision flare with a sudden explosion.

Using the grenade as a distraction, Sidonis reappeared in the dim light, alighting a dampening field over the fallen mercenaries. The vorcha hissed and seethed, trying to gain their footing, spattered with their own blood. Superficial, but their shields were down the telltale shimmer gone.

"Butler, move!"

Advancing out of the doorway at Garrus' behest, the human sprinted to opposite cover. Plugging in another sink, Butler turned and shot one of the vorcha by Sidonis, the bullets cutting through with ease, pinpricks of matter accelerated to tear through. Arm shredded, another bullet snagged through his neck and he dropped.

The loud burst of a shotgun added to the deafening sound in the relatively confined space. Garrus moved, crouched low to better cover, and looking back, saw the crate that'd protected him punched through by another gutting shotgun blast.

Raef stood out from his cover, pumping another sink into his modded shot-gun, breathing hard.

"You think you can fuck with the Blood Pack?"

Another blast went off, cutting close along the edge of Garrus' cover. Beyond his sight, Sidonis sidled up to Butler, crouched behind cover, flanking the krogan. Clearing his throat, Sidonis called out.

"You're a pissant lieutenant they won't miss. Too much trouble for what you're worth."

The krogan lieutenant chuckled, the sound throaty and raw, ignoring the spatter of gunfire that cut across his path and took down another of his men. He fired towards Garrus, draining the turian's shields.

"Draw his fire and sabotage that shotgun! He's trained on me."

A clipped sound followed on the comm, but his comrades obeyed. Standing up out of his cover, Butler leant forward and shot at the krogan. The rapid fire licked up the back of the lieutenant, absorbed by his kinetic shields. Raef turned, rolling with heavy footsteps around another of the vorcha mercenaries, and he pushed the creature as they tried to load a sink into their pistol. Another burst of bullets tore through the living shield, and the pistol clattered to the ground beside its owner.

Fallen back behind a dismantled transport vehicle, Raef reactivated his shields, growling as he saw the damage done. He'd been shot in numerous places, but the redundancy in his vital systems left him relatively unfazed.

Rearing his chin, Reaf called back to the aggressors, "We look out for our own. And I don't forget."

Leaning out of cover, Garrus tracked where the krogan ducked. Keying in the sequence to his omni-tool, he took the smattering of bullets over his shield, a slow drain as he waited for Raef to show. Charged and waiting, he turned his rifle with a flick of the wrist on an advancing vorcha, tearing them down as they strayed out of cover.

"You're under the sorry assumption that you'll survive this, Raef." Sidonis answered, baiting the krogan.

Pumping his shotgun in one hand, Raef stood up out of cover, and angling the barrel, shot at Garrus. The turian's shields took the full bore of it, draining away to nothing. Unable to wait, Garrus activated the overload, and a spray of sparks burst from the krogan's armour as his own shields faded away. Raef didn't hesitate either, shooting twice more before Sidonis was able to sabotage his weapon.

Clipped by the fire, Garrus staggered back into cover, breathing hard as his armour and shields bleeped at him insistently. The piercing warmth at his side blossomed deeper, and he grunted in pain as he sunk down into a crouch. He could smell his own blood.

"I'm hit, agh."

Butler's assault fire renewed itself, having dispatched of the last visible varren and vorcha. Turning his focus on Raef, the krogan cast his overheated gun away, ducking forward to charge to where Garrus had sunk down to false safety.

"Sidonis!"

"Yeah, I'm on it."

The turian came up along with Butler, and the two concentrated their fire on krogan, bullets whizzing and punching through the lieutenant's armour. Raef stumbled to a knee, and Sidonis' mandible flared at the impending defeat.

"What did she ever do to you?"

Blood gurgling in his quad-set of lungs, Raef looked to the voice. Butler's volley of bullets cut across his thighs, crumpling him lower to the ground.

"Just business... Sidonis."

"Where are the children." Butler's hard voice cut in.

The shallow breathing of the krogan muffled into a watery laugh, orange blood spilling over his wide lip. Raising his pistol, Sidonis squeezed and shot Raef in the eye, and the krogan grunted as his body slumped back, amour grating. Leant over the man, the turian spent his heat sink, shredding the heavily creased, wide face of the lieutenant.

"God damn, Sidonis." Butler turned from the turian as he stood over the fallen krogan, hurrying to Garrus side.

The remnant of a medi-gel pack in his hands, Garrus roused, waving Butler away as he dragged himself to his feet. The cooling sensation numbed through his abdomen, sealing the wound from infection and shunting anaesthetic through his veins.

"Sidonis," Garrus' voice was ragged, even as the pain lessened, he could feel his movement and breathing restrict, "Search for others. Those kids have got to be here." When the human hesitated, Garrus swallowed the strain, "Go."

Garrus moved with slow care, looking over the dead krogan lieutenant, his jaw set in a grim line. He clenched his teeth as he turned to search deeper into the expanse. The hack-job of a building was essentially a warehouse, with empty crates and recovered metal sheets from ships, transports and flooring used to section up the wide space. The space reeked of bodies, blood, and worse. A rapport of assault fire reverberated off the piece-meal walls.

"Another vorcha down." Butler replied over the comm.

Winding around a stack of empty ration crates restrained by cargo netting, Garrus choked on his breath and fell back. A knelt varren turned at the sound, read and blue blood on its maw, only to be met with the rapid fire from his rifle. The creature made to run, but Garrus staggered forward, hampered by his abdominal wound, and shot the animal dead.

Left behind were the bloody, torn remains of a human boy and asari girl. Clenching his teeth, Garrus looked away, the half-chewed remains indelibly etched in his mind. The smell rising from the grisly pile told him there was nothing they could have done.

"I found them." The words were a ghost.

* * *

_ "Come on Garrus, don't think you can keep up?"_

_ The turian shook his head and almost swore. His vision was starting to blur, and the Commander wasn't even breaking a sweat. He keyed into his omni-tool and the training drone flew to life again. Knelt down, he steadied the sniper rifle. It was the one she'd given him ._

_ "Oh man, even having to lean it on your arm now? You are gonna looooose."_

_ Shepard sat back in her chair, taking up the shot glass from the table and slamming it back with a casual flair. _

_ Garrus quietly snorted, his focus down the scope as he traced the drone, and in a moment, a succession of shots cracked off. He looked to his omni-tool as he reloaded._

_ "88 after haff a bottle. Let's see you beat that, Shepard."_

_ Swarthy as ever, the Commander flexed her brow and took her bottle of rye. "And I'm already halfway," She brought the bottle to her lips and drained away a half of that. She wheezed a bit, eliciting a chuckle from Garrus, "Three-quarters."_

_ "Uh-huh."_

_ "Annn standing."_

_ Shepard waved a finger Garrus' way as he stood up and snagged the rifle from his grasp. Her hands moved over it with a fluid ease, adjusting it for her height and preferences._

_ "Jus' don't fall on your face. I'd hate to - ta be there as you explain to the crew how you broke your nose."_

_ Shaking her head the Commander keyed in a sequence in her omni-tool, and the drone zig-zagged a different path, its movement more erratic. Garrus scoffed._

_ "There's noooo way."_

_ Shepard touched her nose and pointed to the turian, repeating the gesture again as she butted the rifle into her shoulder to steady it. Exhaling, she swayed a moment before steeling her frame. Her voice was a buttered whisper._

_ "Even without that fancy eye-patch of yours."_

_ The way she held herself erased the haze of the drink, and Garrus could see her muscles tense as she mentally prepared. There was a glow on her skin, flushed as her eyes turned. In rapid succession she tracked the drone, firing the same number of shots as he. _

_ Shepard grinned as she snapped a new sink into the rifle, turning and tossing it to Garrus with a vertical spin. He caught it in one hand, the other holding his own drink._

_ "89. Don't see you beatin' that."_

Garrus groaned and hung his head, leaning forward in the confined space. He'd found in the nights after intense fighting, his dreams were peppered with images of Commander Shepard. Half the time they morphed into things even too crude for him to speak about. His body ached with need that would only be satisfied by himself, and even alone in his meagre apartment, part of him was embarrassed by it.

Better some fantasy about a dead human than reliving what they'd gone through the day before, right? The things that'd been done to the children's bodies... Shuddering, Garrus pushed from the bed and traced a hand along the wall to go relieve himself, the stiffness of his arousal fading from his body at the thought.

What was he doing in this pisshole? Was it really better than living under the bureaucratic thumb of C-Sec? Would she be proud of what he'd done - of what he was trying to do?  
Garrus' throat tightened, and he rested his forehead against the wall, leaving only the silence of his piss hitting the can. His hand drifted to the swath of dermal bandages over his waist. If the shots had gotten any deeper, he would have been in a lot of trouble.

He wasn't used to handling piece-meal bodily remains. Butler had greened at seeing the children - he'd known them. Sidonis was quiet the whole time after killing Raef, so it had left Garrus to pack the bodies into two crates. The smell of their blood had permeated the air.

They didn't speak after. Garrus couldn't rightly leave them there. He tried to imagine himself in Bels place - he would want them brought home to him. They hadn't been able to save them. It was the least he could do. The asari nearly became hysterical. She'd dealt with her partner's death what she could while they had tracked and stormed the Blood pack building. But now she had to do the same for their children.

Trudging out of the small bathroom, Garrus sank into the chair in front of his terminal. Activating a mod on his omni-tool, he set up an interference field and logged in to view the data Sidonis had given him.

Many of the Omega slums were territory continually contested by various gangs, with citizens and merchants paying for protection, or even just to be left alone. It was costly. Sidonis had tracked a series of transmissions to the Genok ward, each of them linked to Hanis in a different way. The trail had become so convoluted. At least there was a fair share of criminals for him to deal with in the meanwhile.

The data scanning took hi through the morning, time only metered by the small clock on his omni-tool set to galactic standard time. Something caught his eye.

Garrus slumped back with fatigue as much as annoyance. Hanis had left the station three days ago. He looked at the clock. At least he was supposed to meet with Butler and Sidonis soon. Turning from his chair, Garrus rose to go equip his armour.


	5. Chapter 5 Hanis

A/N: Short chapter I've had written a while, wanted to post something! Sorry, I've been distracted by one of my other stories (Rising Tide, it's been writing like butta), but I have the plot outlined for the whole story now (pretty much)! More to come soon.

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* * *

"Butler used to be C-sec too, you know."

Garrus lowered the glass of ale from his lips. "You're kidding me."

Leaning back in the pilot's chair, Sidonis nodded and a gloved hand manipulated the holo-interface of the ship.

"So what did Eclipse do that's got you running around?"

Garrus sighed, his mandibles flexing before he laughed once, "Some days I think it's ridiculous, but honestly, killed some innocent people. Strippers mostly." He downed the rest of the ale. "You sure about this?"  
Sidonis laughed once, his head knocking to the side, "Not really any other approach. But it'll land us in cover. 15 minute ETA."  
Hoisting himself up with a hand on the pilot's chair, Garrus wove into the back of the ship to disengage the sleep pod. The door swung open and Butler opened his eyes with a grunt.

"You coming, or was this just a pleasure cruise?"

Butler wiped over his face, hand scraping through the stubble on his cheeks as he yawned, "Wouldn't be here otherwise." The man grinned.

"Then suit up, you've got ten."

The ship banked into the atmosphere of Daratar, the vertigo of the movement scare fazing its occupants. Garrus took the ladder down into the cargo hold and prepped their weaponry. Sniper rifle hitched to his back, he turned and saw Butler trumping into the hold.

"Sidonis doesn't think we've been noticed."

"Yet."  
"He seemed pretty confused. We're pulling in, and the sensors don't show anyone coming our way."  
"Huh." Garrus crossed his arms, watching Butler arm himself. "We need to be ready either way."

Butler nodded, and the ship subtle shook as it landed. As the systems charged down, there was a bleating alarm, signalling the bay doors opening. Sidnois scurried into the hold, already suited up, and snagged his SMG and sinks.

"Something feels off." Sidonis said as they strode to the open door, safe within the Vocoto's kinetic barrier.

"Maybe they're holding position till we move."  
Sidonis shook his head. "There were no channels open, no communications. Something's up."

Leaning into the shadow of the down ramp, Garrus plucked his rifle and flipped the scope to examine the playing field. Sweeping through the rocky badlands that led up to the base and its landing pad, he didn't see a soul. Trigger ready, he sighed before saying, "Alright. Follow my lead and stick to cover. I don't trust this."

Scuttling forward in a crouch, Garrus advanced to cover, the sky bright and the clouds flaring the sun's rays. His mates dashed out too, the air still and quiet. Progressing at a careful pace, Garrus signalled to hold as the base fully came into sight.

Cleared of the rock cropping, a small haze of black smoke hung in the air west of the building. Fractured plating and a thruster sheared from an unseen ship littered the yard. A hole was blasted clean into the complex where a loading door had once been, and down his scope, Garrus counted at least four bloodied and charred Eclipse bodies on the grounds. He clenched his teeth.

"Someone else is here. All I see are bodies."

Butler swore and peered around the rock shelf he hid against. Garrus stood up, rifle still in his grasp as he crept towards the blast hole.

Flipping one of the bodies with his foot, Sidonis sucked a breath through his jagged teeth, "These people know what they're doing too."

In a predacious stance, Garrus sprinted to beside the hole in the building, shoulder against the wall as he glanced in. There was another body a few feet in. A spatter of blue blood encircled the fallen form of a heavily armoured asari. His distraction was broken by a smatter of gunfire, echoing from deeper in the base.

Garrus snapped back into cover, with Butler and Sidonis following suit. Leap frogging from cover-to-cover, they advanced through the warehouse and down a hall, working towards the sound of fighting. Sidonis knelt by Garrus in a sunken doorway, pointing further down the hall.

"Communications up ahead." The orange holographic interface of Sidonis' omni-tool reflected off his helmet visor in the low light.  
"Better start praying, Hanis!"

Garrus and Sidonis' eyes met. They recognized the language - and it was distinctly female. Turian women weren't usually seen outside of Hierarchy systems, often adhering to their civil duties with greater zeal than their male counterparts.

Butler fidgeted with his rifle as Garrus switched weapons, "Well?"

"I don't know," Garrus mumbled, "But it sounds like she wants Hanis. Advance with caution."

Pressing to the doorway at the end of the hall, a line of incendiary shots lit up the frame, and Garrus sagged back. Cycling through the radio frequencies, Sidonis hit one with chatter.

" - ll, looks like Eclipse reinforcements." It was the female turian.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold. I've got a suit tear."

Garrus switched to the channel, "We're not Eclipse. I need information from Hanis."

"Too bad, I want him dead."

"Look, we can work together. How many Eclipse are left."

A reply came in quarian, "Six, they're pinned at two and five from the door."

"Damn it, Uthal!"

"You might have a death wish but Xira might like to see me again. We're at nine, pinned behind a console."

From where the mercs were, a volley of gunfire sprayed towards the console from the door, as if in response. Garrus caught sight of the scuffed yellow helmets before they ducked out of sight.

"We'll help, just don't kill him before I can speak to him."

Without waiting for a reply, the three entered the room, laying down cover fire over the mercs. A suited human got caught in the rain, slumping back through a holographic display. There was very little cover, and amidst the Eclipse soldiers a flicker of blue fire precluded the seeming warp of reality. In a moment, two of the band were airborne, limbs askew.

"Shit, a biotic." Butler fell back into the door jam, while his turian squad mates split. Garrus tucked down, seeing the quarian and his partner. The woman was slumped against the console, and she injected a medi-gel into a rupture in her armour.

"Don't piss yourself, I'm the biotic." She gruffly replied.

A salarian stood to open fire, the exposure welcoming his protective shield to be sabotaged. Hopping back as the module fizzled from the damage, Garrus and the quarian were free to shoot him down.

The secondary door flanking the remaining Eclipse members opened, and another salarian member dashed out. Her shields flickered as bullets followed, and she escaped before it failed. In the quiet that followed, a pained cursing could be heard.

Garrus stood and dodged across the room, gun at the ready. Stepping over the bodies of the mercs, Sidonis and Butler came up behind him.

The human on the ground had popped his helmet off, and there was a contrasting spatter of blood on his golden hard suit. Garrus recognized him despite the grimace marring his features. Squatting, he grabbed Hanis by the neck cuff of his chest plate.

"Hanis." Garrus hissed.  
His eyes languidly opening, Hanis coughed a smatter of blood in an attempt to laugh, "Officer Vakarian."  
"Tell me how I can find Kell, maybe it'll put me in a better mood."

"Officer?" Butler asked.

"You're a bigger idiot than I thought if you want to go after her. And for what? Who are you trying to save?"  
"Anyone else she wants to kill for kicks."

Released from Garrus' grasp, Hanis was in no condition to move. By now, the two strangers had joined them.

The female turian stepped on him, applying pressure to a break in his armour, and Hanis cried out in pain. Her helmet obscured her features.

"Do as the nice man says."

Garrus almost reached to stop her as Hanis' cries devolved into a shuddered whimper.

"Screw you."

The pistol snapped from the woman's hip before Garrus could react, and in one fluid motion, she shot a blackened hole in the floor beside his temple. Hanis' body jolted, twitching like a fish on the panelled floor. The instinctive movement caused the turian female to lean more weight onto her foot. The human's teeth grated as another anguished sound gurgled in his throat.

In response, she shot another hole on the other side of his head. "Who's your pal that ran off?"  
"Illium. She works out of Illium." Hanis choked.

"Kell?" Garrus looked down at the man.

A shudder Hanis' body spilt a line of blood out of his mouth, and his body heaved under the woman's foot. Sidonis looked away, his mandibles pulling close as he escaped to one of the terminals nearby. The turian woman's pistol realigned and she punched a hole through merc's skull.

Garrus gaze snapped to her, Hanis' empty head falling back to the ground, "What the hell are you doing?"

Unfazed, the woman holstered her pistol and stepped off the dead merc, "Would you have preferred to watch him drown in his own blood?"  
A huff of sound caught in his throat, Garrus replied, "No but -"

"He would have." Turning away, the woman unclipped her helmet and popped it off before saying, "Keena Kiluat. This is Uthal'Lesseh."

At a loss, it was a moment before Garrus slowly took off his helmet. He motioned with a talon as he spoke, "Vakarian, Butler, and Sidonis."

The quarian settled into a chair near Sidonis, trying to seal his enviro-suit rupture. In bitter spirits, he said, "Could you help us get off this rock?"

"What?" Keena looked annoyed and she crossed her arms behind her. Uthal looked from her back to Garrus as he seemed satisfied with the seal and rose.

"Our ship was irreparably damaged in the landing."

"That says something coming from a quarian."

"Tah, well, I'm none too pleased about it. So wherever you're going, we'd be much obliged if you'd take us with you. You can take three-quarters of the salvage here."  
"Agh!"

"Keena, they saved our ass. Calm down."

Turning on a dime, Keena stormed off into the hangar without a word.

Garrus looked at Uthal as Sidonis continued the data mine nearby. "Three-quarters? Will she be a problem?"

"Yea. And she'll be fine in a bit." The quarian extended a hand, which Garrus briskly shook.

Finally shouldering his rifle, Butler took to Garrus' side, "We should hurry with that and get out."  
"Sounds good. Sidonis, let me know when you're done. We'll take off then."


	6. Chapter 6 Terrans

Sitting in the chair beside Sidonis, it took most of his self-control for Uthal not to commandeer the piloting of the vessel. Since taking off from Daratar and transitioning into FTL flight towards the relay, he'd seen almost a dozen different slips that hampered the efficiency of the Vocoto. And it was in piss-poor repair.

"You know, if you replaced the R20 converters for the R18s, even used, you'd emit less heat and conserve ten percent fuel."

Sidonis mandibles flared subtly with annoyance, and out of courtesy he nodded to the quarian and said, "Yea, but the buffering mechanism the R18 uses is more prone to failure."

Leaning back in his chair, Uthal scoffed, "Not with proper maintenance."

After a strained silence, Sidonis cleared his throat and said, "There's a rudimentary med station in the back if you need."

"I'm fine. The suit repairs I did will hold."

Sidnois bristled and held his tongue. It had been a long flight.

Further back in the ship, Garrus rested a foot on a circulation hub as he dismantled their guns and meticulously cleaned each component. He remained quiet as Butler talked with Keena.

"So while Uthal was hopping around huffing every possible curse out there - and quarians have some pretty good ones - Avara and I shot the rest of them." Keena crossed her legs, "He was a _little_ sore at us. Sore just in general too!"

Butler made a sound, "Hell knows, I would be too." He popped something in his mouth, "No ideas, Vakarian."

Garrus didn't reply. Turning tech or biotics - or anything - on his own crew was something he'd never do. There was always a better way.

The two chatted a while more with little interjection from Garrus. Keena's eyes kept returning to him as he worked, each gun broken down and reassembled with doting care. Nearing Omega, she spoke up.

"There's a small territory that we've held onto - deep in Yakuh ward. It'd be safe to land. Hopefully the rest of our team fared better than we did."

Garrus nodded, and lay the scope in his talons down, "Do you shake down the residents?"

Keena rolled both shoulders back, "Not like the other gangs. Our levy is barely a quarter what some of the larger factions charge."

Scarce making a sound, Garrus gathered the weapons, securing his own to his back, and disappeared down into the hold. Obtaining the coordinates of their half-hidden dock, Sidonis wove down into the underbelly of Omega, the lights flickering over the hull as they passed through the barriers that maintained the station's atmosphere.

"Kiluat - Keena, is that you?"

Striding back from the cockpit, Keena clicked her comm, "Yea buddy, miss me?"

"Cut the crap - it's the Terrans. They've been terrorizing the quarter since the day after you left."

"What? They hitting our place?"

"Not just ours, they're ripping through. Mulenai and I are the only ones left."

"Damn it!" Keena's voice lowered, "We lost Avara on the mission."

The batarian voice on the other end sighed and the words were garbled by an explosion, " -ve going to make it out of this."

" We'll be at the dock in a different ship. The Dekka is gone too." Linking her hands on the back of her armoured cowl, Keena closed her eyes before saying," I might be able to scrounge some help."

"Right. Hopefully it's soon. They're trying to get through the secondary door. I've got the systems scrambled and fire-walled, but I can't keep it up."

By now, Uthal had left the seat by Sidonis, crossing his arms and listening to their exchange. Looking at each other in the ensuing quiet, the quarian motioned towards the ladder down into the hold.

"Yea, yeah." Keena sighed.

They found Garrus bent over a crate of salvage, the various components laid out on a work bench beside him. Optical solder in hand, his focus kept him distracted until Uthal coughed.

"Huh? Oh." Garrus put the components down.

Keena crossed her arms over her waist, "Thanks again for the lift."

"It's Sidonis' ship, really, you should thank him."

"Will do." Her body language gave away her discomfort, and Garrus couldn't suppress a smirk.

"Is there something you need?"

"Yea actually." Keena regained her posture, her more delicate mandibles twitching, "Our base of ops and the district is being raided by a rival gang. Think you and your boys would be willing to help us?"

"Most of our people have been killed trying to repel the attack."

Garrus shifted his weight, looking off through the hold, "Who is it?"

"Terrans," Keena said, "They're a human merc gang - small timers like us. But pretty xenophobic."  
"So what are they doing on a place like Omega?"

"Whatever they want - just like the rest of us?"

Garrus grumbled, taking up the solder and component again, "If that's the case, why should I bother helping you get back to stepping on others?"

"I don't like it," Keena's mandibles fluttered, "But it's shoot or be shot on Omega." She turned, "Hanis called you Officer. Odd place for someone who respects the law to end up."

"Do you want my help?"

Keena's arms broke apart, "Yea - "

"Then we do things my way. You, the rest of your team. I won't have any bystanders caught in our fire." Garrus stood up and walked to the ladder, "I'll need the building and district layouts, and who there is of your team."

* * *

The batarian fell back, a coconut skin coloured human by his side. They pulled out of the back of the warehouse, and the four-eyed alien fried the door with a simple command from his omni-tool.

"This better fucking work, " Mulenai huffed, trying to catch his breath as he snapped a new sink into his rifle.

Jaunting back a few more paces, there was a 'thuck' as a charge was set on the other side of the door. Keena ran up the ramp to meet them, gun drawn, "They through yet?"

"No, shortly," Toab Kualak said, gauging the situation on his omni-tool with his four eyes.

"We just need to pull them in far enough."

The seam on the doors flickered bright white, and a muted explosion shook the building. There was the creak of rent metal and the doors slid open, servos spared.

Keena secured her pistol at her hip, hissing as she raised her hands, "Just follow my lead."

A troupe of humans stormed in, and seeing Keena and her two men kneeling down, reloaded their weapons.

Their leader laughed, "So what they said about turian women was right." Lining up the shot, he said, "Let's keep her."

Before he could fire, a bullet pierced his skull, and a second took down the man on his right with equal precision. Seeing the spray of blood, Keena and her men collapsed down, the errant gunfire of the Terrans following them. Another pair of bullets clipped the opposing mercs before they could withdraw.

Seizing opportunity, Keena rose on one knee and flipped a pair of Terrans into the air with a biotic burst. They flailed, knowing time ticked as the snipers reloaded, but the field held. Soon, two more shots left their lifeless forms to crumple as the dark matter dissipated.

Garrus came over the comm, "Drive the remnants back through the building. We'll be in position."

In the front street, Butler popped from cover to take out an exposed Terran standing watch. The elcor he'd been harassing scarce moved, but spoke as he and Sidonis dropped down to flank the Terran mercenaries within the building.

"Surprised relief; thank you, human, I had thought that was the end of me."

"Head for cover and tell any others you see to do the same. We don't want anyone caught in the crossfire."

"Mild confusion; very well."

Each taking a place on either side of the open door, they waited until the elcor had lumbered a few feet away. Glancing in, the stench of death assailed their senses, and Butler nearly retched.

"Such a tough guy."

"Shut up and do your job."

Sidonis snorted once, the sound muffled by his helmet.

The signal came from Garrus and they darted in without a word. The interior of the warehouse was partitioned and broken into sections, each showing a different stage of disrepair. There were bodies of various species lying everywhere in different stages of decay.

"Jesus," Butler murmured.

"They're coming on your right." Garrus interjected, "Can't get a clear shot."

The clatter of boots grew, and a stack of empty crates toppled as three Terrans slid around them - right into the oncoming fire. One took the brunt, while the others dove into cover.

Garrus swung down out of the catwalks, grunting as the drop jarred him. Switching weapons in cover, he followed hot on their heels as the last two darted into the narrow streets.

One of the Terrans opened fire in the confined space, denting a line up the adjacent building. Rifle steady in his grasp, Garrus exhaled and blew through the remnants of their shields, and they collapsed one after the other.

"You were supposed to have the door," Garrus looked back in, panting slightly under his helmet. Walking to the mercs, he peered over them, his visor confirming their death.

Down the narrow alley he stood by, Garrus heard a crash and a fear-filled sound, and he turned, turning his rifle at the hip.

"Please, don't kill me!" An adolescent slipped as he tried to stand, staggering back through the filth he'd used to conceal himself.

"Don't worry." Collapsing his rifle, Garrus turned back to the warehouse, "I won't."

* * *

"So what do you make of the power shift?"

Picking over his meal, the man shook his head before saying, "I'd be more wary of it if my brother hadn't run into one of them?"

"Come on, Mandip - a merc band that doesn't want protection money? Even Keena was collecting. Sure they treated us better but."

Eating a few mouthfuls, Mandip wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and said, "You remember when the Terrans stormed the district a few weeks back?"

"Course I do. I'm still making repairs." The batarian leant back in his chair, grumbling. "Bastards tried to loot the restaurant. Killed two of them before they thought better of it."

"Well Sarwar was there, Kartal - he was right by their base when the shit hit the fan."

"And he's still alive."

"That's just it. One of these new mercs - that turian in the blue armour."

"The one people keep talking about like he's some kinda angel?" Kartal rolled all four of his eyes and took up a mug with a steaming white liquid in it.

"Yea. Well, my brother was just trying to keep out of the crossfire, when two Terrans broke into the street and bee-lined right for him, shooting wild."

"Shit."

"You better believe it. The turian shot them dead, perfect accuracy, no stray fire. And towering over him, my little brother thought he was dead too - but no! The guy just says he won't hurt him and walks away."

Kartal looked at him with a blank stare, his head tilting one way as he said, "I've heard more about them too, I can't deny. I just don't want to get my hopes up."

"Lisa was saying that a friend of hers was saved by them too. A stray group of vorcha ventured too far in, were trying to carry the woman and her daughter off. But no, like appearing out of thin air, and they were sniped, dead before the girls knew what was going on."

"People enjoy making up crap like that, Mandip."

Mandip waved a hand, staying quiet as his mouth filled with food, chewing at the last grisly bits. Licking his lips he said, "I wouldn't believe it if it weren't for Sarwar. Notice you haven't seen or heard a thing about the Terrans? The streets are quiet."

"Yea? So? They're regrouping."

"Naw. Wiped out. They stormed the base and took over their district territory. It's just as safe there now too."

"This is Omega, Mandip. There is no safe."

"Fine, it's safe for Omega. And cheap." Mandip tossed his cutlery down, linking his hands together, "He's got my support. I finally feel like my family can just try and make a life."


End file.
